When it comes to muscles, flexibility is a good thing. And the same goes for your blood vessels. The more limber and elastic those vessels are, the better they maintain healthy blood pressure. Now, research suggests there might be a connection between flexible muscles and stretchy blood vessels. In a study, adults 40 and older who had a harder time touching their toes from a sitting position also tended to have stiffer arteries.
What's behind this flexibility and heart health connection isn't clear, but we already know that exercising regularly can help delay some of the age-related changes that take place in our blood vessels as we get older -- like arterial stiffening.
So ask your Vera trainer to assess your flexibility and get some ideas on how to keep yourself and your arteries supple.
-Vera Fitness Team-